The NCAA softball tournament began with an historic upset and ended with Texas delivering the first national championship in program history.
Facing off against Texas Tech and star pitcher NiJaree Canady, the Longhorns sneaked out a 2-1 win in Wednesday’s opener of the best-of-three championship series before losing 4-3 in the second game, setting up Friday’s winner-take-all finale.
The Longhorns would light up Canady for five runs in the bottom of the first, highlighted by Leighann Goode’s three-run blast, and cruised to a 10-4 win in the decider. After going the distance on Thursday night, Canady lasted just one inning Friday.
To reach this point, Texas had to exorcise years of disappointment at the hands of rival Oklahoma. After capturing a record four national championships in a row heading into this year’s Women’s College World Series, the Sooners lost once to the Longhorns in a winner’s bracket game and were eventually bounced out of the tournament by Texas Tech.
Meanwhile, Texas A&M became the first No. 1 overall seed to not advance out of the opening weekend, losing twice in as many days against Liberty to make dubious college softball history.
Looking back at the tournament that was, here are the biggest winners and losers:
Winners
Texas
The Longhorns reached the finals of the Women’s College World Series in 2022 and again last season, only to be swept both times by the Sooners. Beating Oklahoma last weekend was an emotional palate cleanser for a program that had carved out a place among the best in the country under coach Mike White. Beating the Red Raiders in White’s seventh season is the breakthrough Texas had been waiting for. While the Sooners may enter next year as the national favorites, this championship cements Texas as a powerhouse and could vault the Longhorns into a back-to-back streak of their own.
NiJaree Canady
It’s hard to overstate Canady’s incredible impact on a program that entered this season having never won a conference championship or even advanced out of the regional round in six previous tournament appearances. In her first year on campus, Canady and her right arm propelled Tech to the pinnacle of the sport and nearly delivered what might have been the most unexpected national championship in college softball history. Despite the disappointment of getting knocked out early in the deciding game against Texas, Canady’s legacy as a transformative figure for the Red Raiders is already secure even as she prepares for one final year with the program.
Jordy Bahl
The former Oklahoma transfer carried Nebraska into the super regionals for the first time since 2014 and the third time in program history. She hit four home runs in the Baton Rouge regional to give her 23 on the year, setting a new program record. Bahl added tournament wins against Southeastern Louisiana and Tennessee to give her 26 victories and make her the fourth player in NCAA history with at least 20 home runs and 20 wins on the year. While Nebraska was unable to close out the Volunteers after taking the first game of the super regional series, Bahl and the Cornhuskers set the foundation for a run at the national championship next season.
Losers
Texas A&M
The postseason was never easy for a team that surged to the finish line of the regular season by crushing Tennessee, South Carolina and Florida. After dropping the regional opener to Liberty, the Aggies needed a controversial obstruction call, six Liberty errors and extra innings to beat the Flames 14-11 in the first elimination game. In the second, freshman KK Dement homered to help put A&M ahead 3-0 heading into the fifth inning, but Liberty right fielder Rachel Roupe hit a solo shot in the top of the fifth to make it 3-1 going into the sixth. Roupe would go deep again in the sixth to put Liberty up 6-3 and on track for the historic upset.
LSU
It’s one thing to get bounced in the opening weekend as regional hosts and another to get bounced in the opening weekend as regional hosts to Southeastern Louisiana, which went into the weekend in Baton Rouge with an 0-15 record in games against LSU. But the Lions topped the Tigers 4-3 in the opener and then won 8-7 in the rematch, scoring two of the biggest wins in program history before dropping the regional final to the Cornhuskers. And the second game against LSU was a wild one: Down 4-1 after the first inning and trailing 6-4 after five, the Tigers traded runs until allowing the walk-off win in the bottom of the seventh, when the Lions loaded the bases with none out before beating the throw home on a fielder’s choice. This is the third time in four years LSU has failed to advance out of the regionals, though the program remains a national power under coach Beth Torina.
Clemson
The Tigers came up short in the super regional against Texas after taking the first game of the series. Postseason disappointment is not a new feeling for this young program: Clemson has now lost in the super regionals three times since playing its first game in 2020. The Tigers will be kicking themselves until next spring after leaving a combined 17 runners on the bases and allowing four unearned runs in the two losses to the Longhorns. While that marquee Women’s College World Series moment has yet to arrive, the Tigers seem even more destined to eventually break through on this stage after pushing the eventual national champions to the brink.
Arkansas
The Razorbacks finished six spots above Mississippi in the SEC standings but could never solve the Rebels, who took the regular-season series in early March and then won two of three in the Fayetteville super regional. This marked Arkansas’ fourth loss in the super regionals in as many tries, with all four appearances since coach Courtney Deifel was hired in 2016. Arkansas is one of only two SEC programs, along with Mississippi State, to never reach the Women’s College World Series stage.